I drank the Kool-Aid....

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I just went through the same thing except my CYA was 60 so I had to maintain a much higher FC level. You're not done shocking. At 25 ppm CYA you should be maintaining an FC level of 12 ppm until the water is clear, your CC is .5 or less, and the overnight free chlorine lost is 1ppm or less.

Go to pool school and read "shocking your pool". That's the advice I was given and it works. Takes time though. Mine took two weeks.

Good Luck
 
I lost count, man. I was using liquid shock which is stronger than grocery store bleach. I would say I went through about 32 bottles. It really does work though. Don't loose faith. There is a day-to-day improvement. Sometimes it's small though.
 
How often are you testing FC and adding more bleach to get back up to shock level? Do it as often as you, every hour if possible.

Once you burn thru the CC, things should improve dramatically.

Can you post a pic for us?
 
If bharkin were to bring the stabilizer up to say 40 ppm, he could probably get by with probably 2 or 3 chlorine additions/day, right? That's what I was doing; some in the afternoon some in the morning, afternoon and evening if necessary. I had to order more test chemicals though, because I was using about 55 drops of R-0871/test LOL.

I'm a newb though, and don't want to confuse things, so someone jump in if I'm wrong.
 
Butterfly said:
How often are you testing FC and adding more bleach to get back up to shock level? Do it as often as you, every hour if possible.

Once you burn thru the CC, things should improve dramatically.

Can you post a pic for us?
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I am testing as often as I can, I work nights right now. I add, retest in 1-2 hours, add more, retest, etc.... Right before I leave for work, I add an additional gallon and bring the level up higher for while I am gone. I retest as soon as I get home, add, wait a bit, retest and add then go to sleep. I wake up and start all over again. I seem to be going through about 5-8 gallons a day.... it seems like a lot to me, but maybe it isn't. I did start out with a green swamp, now it's milky. I will try and get a picture ASAP. Thanks to all of you for the advice and support through this. :goodjob:
 
and we continue the story.... Of How the Pool Clears

So, this morning when I got home, the FC was 3.5 and the CC was 4.0. I added the 1.8 gal of 8.25% bleach as the Pool Calculator said to, and the FC level has held for the last 4 hrs and the CC has come down to 3.5 Sadly though, my CYA has dropped from 25 to 20. All of the other readings have been the same. does this sound about right? I am also finding that I have to backwash a little more often, and that I know is a good sign....

I just found something left over from last winter. I have 4 lbs of Bioguard Arctic Blue Shock. Since my CYA is low can I add this to boost the CYA since it contains dichlor? Or since this is winterizer, should I save for winter, or what?
 
bharkin said:
and we continue the story.... Of How the Pool Clears

So, this morning when I got home, the FC was 3.5 and the CC was 4.0. I added the 1.8 gal of 8.25% bleach as the Pool Calculator said to, and the FC level has held for the last 4 hrs and the CC has come down to 3.5 Sadly though, my CYA has dropped from 25 to 20. All of the other readings have been the same. does this sound about right? I am also finding that I have to backwash a little more often, and that I know is a good sign....

I just found something left over from last winter. I have 4 lbs of Bioguard Arctic Blue Shock. Since my CYA is low can I add this to boost the CYA since it contains dichlor? Or since this is winterizer, should I save for winter, or what?
Click to expand...
http://www.kellysolutions.com/erenewals ... _21_AM.pdf

Hazardous components
Component CAS-No. Weight percent
Sodium Dichloro-S-Triazinetrione 2893-78-9 58.2 %
sodium persulfate 7775-27-1 15 - 25 %
aluminium sulfate 10043-01-3 5 - 15 %
Boron salt 5 - 15 %

What's this aluminum stuff? I'd be wary. You know what aluminum stains look like if you've ever messed around with an aluminum canoe, aluminum lawn chair, or aluminum tent poles. That black stuff? Aluminum oxide.

CYA dropping a little would be expected if you're backwashing a lot. Add in the built-in margin or error on the test, and it's reasonable.
 

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bharkin said:
So the green is NOW gone..... water is milky, FC is 13, pump is pumping, filter is filtering. flux capacitor is.... fluxing.... all is right in the world.
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tumblr_lkla3uWC3C1qgjmmgo1_500.gif


Just to clarify: you are running the pump 24/7 yes? Keeping filter pressure from rising > 4-5 psi?
Can you see all the way to the bottom? Is there any possibility that there are organics (leaves) down there? Only time my pool was hard to clear was when I had "hidden" leaves in deep end.

Even as seasoned pro, my pool took >week to get clear from winter this year. It was infuriating, but worth the wait.

Good luck.
 
Yes sir, pump is 24/7. I cannot see the bottom, it is a milky color. There are a few leaves floating around but very few. I brush everyday all the way across both sides.

The only time the FC drops that low is when I am at work or asleep. As soon as I get home or awake, I shock the bageezus out of it and keep it there.
 
Ok, so something is wrong. I have kept the FC at or above 13 with a CYA of 25. My CC is still 2.0-2.5, cloudy water. I backwash daily, brush twice a day and nothing is getting any better. When I brush, I do not see any debris float up. What am I missing? :scratch:
 
Nothing is wrong, you simply have organics in your pool and it is taking a long time to eliminate them. There really is no alternative other than keeping your FC at shock value and doing all the other procedures as outline in Pool School, "How to shock your Pool"

Stay the course.
 
So I took a sample to the "pool professionals" this afternoon, and guess what they said I needed to buy? Nothing. He said that my water was perfect! I about fell over, grinning the whole time. I guess I bought the special bleach....
 
bharkin said:
Ok, so something is wrong. I have kept the FC at or above 13 with a CYA of 25. My CC is still 2.0-2.5, cloudy water. I backwash daily, brush twice a day and nothing is getting any better. When I brush, I do not see any debris float up. What am I missing? :scratch:
Click to expand...
You should only backwash when the pressure increases about 20 to 25% above clean filter psi.

What about light niches, ladders, and skimmers? Algae likes to hide out. You may also have/have had some ammonia. That would take some extra work/time/chlorine to burn it off.

Can I go higher on my FC, to say around 18 safely? I mean no one is swimming now and there is nothing in the pool except for the skimmer and return.....
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Well, you could try Mustard Algae shock level (15 to 17 ). You can keep adjusting back up (testing/adjusting every hour or so) if the FC is being rapidly consumed.

So I took a sample to the "pool professionals" this afternoon, and guess what they said I needed to buy? Nothing. He said that my water was perfect! I about fell over, grinning the whole time. I guess I bought the special bleach....
Click to expand...
You were not surprised, were you. :wink: Isn't it great that you know what is in your pool and what your chemical levels are!
 
No not surprised at all. He looked at me funny when I told him what my FC was before he could.
Is ammonia something I have to worry about often? Is it something else I need to test regularly? The pool did have a strong chlorine smell for quite sometime. It is pretty much gone now...
 

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